Friday, February 28, 2014

I'm "on the road". Come back tomorrow for all the Grant Park Fabric winners. I know you are all anxious for the drawing, but it means that I'm leaving 74 degree weather for -17 to get back to my home computer. I'm trying to get excited for you :)

Monday, February 24, 2014

Yes, it's our day on the Spell It With Fabric Blog Hop! We couldn't be happier!

That's right - we're the Queens of the Day! (pass me a tissue, please)

And it's because our letter is Q…….. What else can we say about the letter Q (No, really what can we say?). Let's see…. we have a lot of Fat Quarters….. Quesadillas are always great….. We've never eaten a quince…... We have even known a few Quarterbacks…..

Jim Harbaugh

Of course, there are always Quilts. Quilts to make. Quilts to give. Quilts to collect. Quilts! That's all I have to say about the letter Q. Except for this - our block. Here is the link to the block directions.

As usual, I couldn't follow directions and made my block a bit different.

This is our block - made into a zippered bag. And this is the back.

And this is the inside with who knows what in the background.

There are many, many ways to make a bag like this. If you don't believe me go to this Pinterest link for zippered bag tutorials. You can pick any style or size you like. How I made mine was to sort of wing it (wish there was a word for totally making things up that begins with a Q). As I mentioned in a previous post, I looked at all my Japanese books with their beautiful hand made bags and looked at the graphics. I had to only look at the graphics since I cannot read Japanese. It was kind of liberating, though. Just Wing It!

I made another bag yesterday. I've taken a few more pictures to show you my process.

First I went into my scrap box and rescued some unused blocks and made two rectangles identical in size.

Next, I cut backings and batting identical in size and layered the batting, backing (right side up) and top (right side down). I stitched around the circumference leaving a 3" section open so I could turn it right side out.

Once I turned them right side out, I stitched up the open section and then quilted them.

Next, I cut two rectangles for the zipper stops. I cut these 2" x 3".

Press 1/4" all the way around….

And then in half. Make 2.

Sew one around the end of the zipper and then cut your zipper, if needed, to the correct length of your bag and sew the other just above the zipper thingy. (Yes, you can cut a zipper! Who knew? No really, I didn't know. I never learned to sew clothing because I couldn't work a sewing machine when I was younger. Just ask my old home-ec teacher or my Girl Scout leader.)

Taking a tip from my Japanese books - I sewed each side of the zipper onto the back side of the teeny quilts using a herringbone stitch. Use whatever stitch you like.

This is what it looks like on the front side. Now, open the zipper. This is IMPORTANT. Take it from me who had to learn the hard way. Open the zipper and then put the right sides of the bag together and whip stitch the edges.

I am whip stitching the edges together, making sure to sew the lighter edges (this will be the outside of your bag when you turn it inside out).

Because you were smart and had your bag unzipped, now you can turn the bag right side out. Now it's ready for all your treasures.

Oooh, looky at that fabric in the background. More about that later.

Now to what's important!!! Comment on this post and you could win lots of stuff. I mean Layer Cakes™, Jelly Rolls™, and Fat 8th Bundles of Grant Park fabric!! Winners will be posted later in the week.

Tuesday, February 11, 2014

This is our Stars and Bars quilt in both of it's transformations. The top picture is the with the star bunting that came out with our Bar Harbor fabric collection. The bottom picture is with the bunting that came out with our Nantucket collection.

Guess what? A kind follower of this blog, Jean, found a piece of this eagle bunting in her fabric stash when she was moving. She actually found more than one. She is keeping one and making the above quilt and sent the other piece along to me. Which means it is being offered to you.

With the gift of this eagle bunting I am able to make ONE KIT for this quilt. One last one. Believe me, if we had more of this eagle bunting we could have sold these kits for quite awhile.

But, it's not for sale. It's our gift to one lucky commenter on this blog. Just make a comment to this post before Saturday February 14th at midnight to be eligible. Just tell us who you would make this quilt for. It seems only right since it's a gift from Jean, and a gift from us - it should be a gift to someone special to you.

Tuesday, February 4, 2014

I, along with you, look forward to the day when I can post a picture of this quilt without the masking tape holding down the curling edges. Today is not the day.

Here is my Mrs. Billings top ALMOST done. Everything except the last border. If you are new to this…. it isn't pressed yet. That's why the edges curl and I've tacked it down with tape. No pressing until the last border is on - one more to go!

The last border is a bit of a hurdle though…… lots and lots of hexies.

Some are fussy cut, and some are not. I must say, these have been a lot of fun. I wonder how many I can get done before I have to take a break on this and work on our new quilt patterns?

I've had so many questions about this quilt and the making of it. I'm having a grand time. Besides the notions that I mentioned last time (lazy susan cutting board and small rotary cutter) I have a couple more suggestions if you are interested in making something like this. Little grippy dots for the templates…...

This simple little notion has made all the difference in ease of cutting. I even had to do a little surgery on one to get teeny, tiny pieces for the hexie template. It works like a charm. I also recommend the Sewline glue stick pen!!! Glue basting the hexies instead of sewing through the paper is a dream!

And I have some other good news about the Mrs. Billings Coverlet quilt….. we are getting the pattern kits back in stock! They are on their way from Down Under and I should be able to ship again next week. This is the perfect project for stitching and watching the Olympics.